


Strong and Standing Tall

by imatrisarahtops



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Miraculous Ladybug Origins, Plagg Cares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 15:25:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11649393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imatrisarahtops/pseuds/imatrisarahtops
Summary: “When I was little,” Adrien said suddenly, and Plagg turned to him once more, “mère always told me stories about heroes who saved Paris.  I loved to hear them.”  He smiled slightly, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.  “It always sounded like someone I wanted to be.”  He sighed, looking back at his phone, his grip on it tightening.  “Even if père could never understand, I think that she would.  And I think…”  His smile became more pronounced, though it was still soft and distant as he looked at the photograph.  “I think she’d be proud of Chat Noir.”Something about the words didn’t sit right with Plagg.  It took him a moment of thinking, considering them carefully, before he realized what it was.“She’d be proud of more than just Chat Noir.”After Stoneheart is defeated and the akuma is captured, Adrien starts to think about his mother and the stories she used to tell him.  He thinks she'd be proud of Chat Noir—but Plagg wants him to know that he's done much more in the past few days to be proud of than simply fighting an akuma.





	Strong and Standing Tall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Their_Destinys_Writer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Their_Destinys_Writer/gifts).



> Hi! Long time no see, eh? This is an idea I've been playing with for a while, mostly after listening to the song "You're Not There" by Lukas Graham, which is where I got the title. And when I saw that one of my mutuals on tumblr who was a big supporter of _Ne Me Quitte Pas_ had a rough day recently, I knew that I wanted to finally complete it and share. So I hope you don't mind. I know you said you're feeling better, but I still wanted to post this for you. You're such an awesome person! You have made my day so many times with your lovely comments and reviews of _NMQP_ , so I hope that I can brighten your day even just a little bit with this.
> 
> * * *
> 
> _"Time can heal your wounds if you're strong and standing tall;_   
>  _I've been doing all of that, it didn't help at all._   
>  _They say you'll grow older, and it'll get better still_   
>  _Yes, I will, but no it won't; they don't get it,_
> 
> _'Cause you're not there to celebrate the man that you made;_  
>  _You're not there to share in my my success and mistakes._  
>  _Is it fair? You'll never know the person I'll be._  
>  _You're not there with me..."_  
>  \- "You're Not There" by Lukas Graham

The rain was still falling steadily when evening came.  After school, Plagg had rested in Adrien’s bag while the boy finished out his afternoon, scheduled down to the minute with additional tutoring and various appointments and commitments that Nathalie had apparently rearranged to make the day work.  The kwami knew that Adrien was thankful for it, and he tried not to make any more comments on what a strange kid he was that he wanted that badly to actually go to school instead of skipping it.

After dinner and homework, Adrien finally settled himself on his couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table and leaning back into the cushions.  He had pulled out his phone and started looking at something on it with an almost wistful expression—it spoke a bit of sadness and longing, and, though the kwami couldn’t quite grasp the reasons for it, Plagg knew he hated that expression and never wanted to see Adrien make it again.

The kwami tentatively made his way to join the boy, floating over to his shoulder and glancing at the phone.  Whatever he expected to see, it wasn’t a series of photographs of a young woman with blond hair.  Plagg was certain there was something familiar about the woman, sure that he almost recognized her—and then realization struck and it seemed painfully obvious just who the woman was.

“Your mother?” he asked, looking to Adrien.

Adrien nodded, but didn’t turn to Plagg.  Instead, he continued to scroll through the pictures, flicking his thumb across the screen every so often so a new one would appear.  The kwami didn’t know the story, but he had enough tact and common sense to know better than to pry; he felt quite certain that when Adrien was ready, he’d explain it to him. Plagg seemed satisfied enough with this knowledge and went back to watching him slide through the photographs.

“When I was little,” Adrien said suddenly, and Plagg turned to him once more, “mère always told me stories about heroes who saved Paris.  I loved to hear them.”  He smiled slightly, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.  “It always sounded like someone I wanted to be.”  He sighed, looking back at his phone, his grip on it tightening.  “Even if père could never understand, I think that she would.  And I think…”  His smile became more pronounced, though it was still soft and distant as he looked at the photograph.  “I think she’d be proud of Chat Noir.”

Something about the words didn’t sit right with Plagg.  It took him a moment of thinking, considering them carefully, before he realized what it was.

“She’d be proud of more than just Chat Noir,” he said at last, and Adrien turned to him.  “Listen—you’ve done much more to be proud of than just defeating an akuma.”  Adrien frowned a little as he looked at the kwami, almost as if he was skeptical of what he was saying, but Plagg shook his head.

“Look, kid,” he continued.  “I might have never met your mom, and we might still be getting to know each other, but…”  He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath.  “Well, she sounds like the type of person who would be even more proud of what you did today as Adrien than what you did as Chat Noir.”

Adrien blinked at Plagg; then, he suddenly looked thoughtful, as though considering what he’d said.  “Yeah?” he asked finally, as though still a bit uncertain.  The kwami took this as a sign to continue.

“Yeah,” he agreed.  “There’s plenty to be proud of—more than just defeating the bad guy and capturing the akuma.  You gave Ladybug confidence when she was feeling uncertain about herself.  You stood up to your dad when you knew he was being unreasonable.  You did what was right with that girl from your class by apologizing, and you ended up making a friend.”  He gave the boy a half-smile, hoping that it was obvious that even in their new companionship, he felt proud of Adrien too.

There was still so much for them to learn about each other.  It would take time, but Plagg was certain that it would happen.  In the meantime, he just wanted to make sure that the boy who held his Miraculous knew the same thing that he’d unknowingly conveyed to Ladybug before—that he was Chat Noir for a reason.  He'd been handpicked to be this hero of Paris, and that was because of the type of person he was, not merely who he could be behind the mask.  “That’s quite a lot in just a few days.”

Adrien suddenly scooped Plagg into his hands.  The action startled the kwami a bit, eyes widening until he spotted the positively brilliant smile on Adrien’s face, and he softened.  And with that, he knew that he’d definitely done the right thing.

And then he murmured a soft, “Thanks, Plagg.”  He grinned even more widely at him, then got to his feet, raising his hand to his breast pocket.  “Let’s see if we can find you some camembert.”

“Well, if you insist,” Plagg responded lightly, zooming into the pocket to hide.

And he decided just as easily that, yes, this human was definitely going to be all right with him.


End file.
